The inkjet recording method is a method by which the minute ink droplet is jetted, and a dot is formed by adhering it to the recording medium such as the paper, and an image and character are recorded. Because it causes low noise and does not require a process such as the developing or fixing, and a full-color recording can be easily conducted, it is rapidly spread to various fields such as each kind of printer, facsimile, and computer terminal.
Particularly, recently, like as an increase of the speed of the apparatus, an increase of a high minuteness or an increase of a high image quality full color, improvement of performance of the inkjet recording apparatus in which the inkjet recording method is adopted is accelerated, and together with this, in the recording media used for the inkjet recording apparatus, various kinds of recording media are used. Accordingly, for these various kinds of recording medium, the inkjet recording apparatus by which respectively under the optimum condition, recording can be conducted is required.
Generally, as the characteristic of the recording medium which is required for conducting the high quality recording, the ink absorption characteristic such as the maximum ink absorption amount of the recording medium, the ink absorption speed, the ink drying time, and the ink dot diameter, can be listed.
The maximum ink absorption amount is a parameter required when the ink jetting amount per unit area jetted onto the recording medium is controlled. When, onto the recording medium, the ink more than the maximum ink absorption amount is jetted, the ink amount becomes excessive, and the ink overflows from the surface, and the phenomena of bleeding is generated. Inversely, when, to the ink absorption amount, the image is formed by the smaller amount of ink, a problem is generated like that the image density is lowered, and the quality of the image is lowered. Therefore, it is necessary that, according to the ink absorption amount, the ink jetting amount per unit area is adequately controlled.
Further, the ink absorption speed is a parameter necessary when the ink jetting amount per unit time which is jetted onto the recording medium is controlled. When the recording is conducted at a pace more than the ink absorption speed, before the first ink droplet is absorbed in the recording medium, the next ink droplet is jetted, and in this case, the ink droplets are fused into one and becomes a large ink droplet, and a problem that it is jointed to the adjoining ink dot is generated. Accordingly, it is necessary that the ink jetting amount per unit time is adequately controlled according to the ink absorption speed of the recording medium.
Then, the ink drying time is a parameter necessary when the recording time interval at the time of continuous recording is controlled. When the recording is conducted at the faster pace not larger than the ink drying time, before the ink on the recording surface of the recording medium is perfectly dried, the next image is outputted, and a problem that the ink is transferred between recording media stacked on the ejection sheet tray, or an image is disturbed by the scuffing, is generated. Accordingly, it is necessary that the recording interval time is adequately controlled according to the ink drying time of the recording medium.
Further, the ink dot diameter is a parameter which is necessary when the ink jetting amount per unit area which is jetted onto the recording medium is controlled. The ink jetting amount per unit area called herein is to be determined by a volume of the jetted ink droplets and a specified resolving power. When the volume of the ink droplet is larger than the necessary one, or the resolving power is set higher than the necessary one, the adjoining ink dots are jointed and a problem of the lowering of the image quality is generated. Further, when the volume of the ink droplet is too little, the image density is lowered, and the quality of the image is deteriorated. Accordingly, to the ink dot diameter, it is necessary that the ink jetting amount per unit area (the volume of the jetted ink droplet and the set resolving power) is adequately controlled.
As described above, in such an inkjet recording apparatus, in order to conduct the recording of the high quality onto the various kinds of recording media, corresponding to the ink absorption characteristic of the recording medium such as the ink absorption amount of the recording medium, ink absorption speed, ink drying time, and ink dot diameter, the necessity that the recording is adequately conducted, is generated.
However, in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus, in order to correspond to these various kinds of recording media, for example, operations by which the optimum condition is set again, are necessary every when the recording medium is changed. These operations require a long time period, and it is also a cause for generating a problem such as a mis-setting. Undoubtedly, in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus, there exist apparatus which record under several ways of recording conditions corresponding to the characteristic of the recording medium, however, these are apparatus which are considered so that, to absolutely limited several kinds of recording media, it corresponds only relating to the conditions in which the quality of paper is limited, and naturally, it can not correspond to the various kinds of recording media in the recent years. Then, it can not correspond to complicated conditions such as the ink absorption amount, ink absorption speed, ink drying time, and ink dot diameter.
Further, the ink used in the inkjet recording apparatus, is largely separated into the dye ink and the pigment ink. The dye ink is soluble in the solvent, and shows a highly pure and clear coloring, further, since it does not generate the scattering light and reflected light because of no granularity, the transparency is high and the hue is clear, however, on the one hand, when the pigment molecule is destroyed by the photochemical reaction, since the decrease of the number of molecules directly influence the coloring density, there is a problem that the light stability is poor.
In contrast to this, the pigment ink is insoluble in the solvent, and the pigment molecules form the particle and contribute to coloring under the situation that the particle is dispersed in the solvent, and even when the molecule of the surface is destroyed by the photochemical reaction, because there is a new pigment molecule layer under it, there is an advantage that the apparent decrease of coloring power is small and the image storage stability is more excellent comparing to the dyet ink.
However, there is a problem in the pigment ink that the glossiness is poor by the influence of the scattered light and reflected light caused by the particle of the pigment ink. Therefore, in order to give glossiness to the recording medium surface, on which an image is recorded and formed by using the pigment ink including dispersing agent, and in order to prevent the bleeding of the image by contact with the water, and together with that, in order to increase the abrasion-resistance, a technology id proposed that the image is recorded and formed by using the recording medium having the ink receiving layer including the thermoplastic resin particles and the pigment ink solvent absorption layer adjoining to the inside of the ink receiving layer on the surface layer (image recording surface side), and after that, when the recording medium is heated and pressed, the thermoplastic resin particles in the ink receiving layer are fused and smoothed, and the ink receiving layer is cleared (Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-164386).
In such technology, the recording medium on which the image is recorded and formed by the recording head, is conveyed to the heat and pressure means by the transportation means, and heated and pressed and the ink receiving layer is made transparent, then, in order to make a high quality image print, it is necessary that the making transparent of this ink receiving layer is adequately conducted.
Accordingly, in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus, the recording medium on which the recording is conducted is previously specified, and when the optimum heating and pressing condition corresponding to the characteristic of the recording medium is set in the inkjet recording apparatus, it is realized that the high quality image print is produced.
However, in the recent years, various kinds of recording media are appeared also in the recording media having the thermoplastic resin layer on this surface layer, and in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus, in order to correspond to these recording media, it is necessary that the optimum heating and pressing condition is respectively set. This setting is a very troublesome operation, and it is also a cause to generate the mis-setting. Certainly, in the conventional inkjet recording apparatus, there exist apparatus by which the recording is conducted under several recording conditions corresponding to the characteristic of the recording medium, however, they are apparatus which are absolutely considered so as to correspond to the conditions of the paper quality of the recording medium, and they are not the apparatus corresponding to the heating and pressing conditions of the above-described recording medium having the thermoplastic resin layer on the surface layer.
Further, in the inkjet image recording apparatus, corresponding to the characteristic of the recording medium used for recording the high image quality image, the jetting amount of the ink, or the transportation amount for transporting the recording medium, the distance between the recording medium and the recording head, or the recording speed are controlled.
In the inkjet image recording apparatus as described above, it is necessary that the characteristic of the recording medium is detected in order to record the high image quality image on the recording medium. Further, it is also necessary that the residual amount of the roll-like image recording medium is detected.
The conventional method by which the information of the roll-like image recording medium is detected in the inkjet image recording apparatus as described above, is disclosed in Japanese Tokkaihei No. 4-51184. According to this, in the detection method of the information of the recording medium, the information of the recording medium is recorded on the core member of the roll-like recording medium and this information is detected by an optical sensor. Further, in this image recording apparatus, only the reading of the information of the recording medium is conducted.
Hereupon, as the method to detect the residual amount of the roll-like image recording medium, there is a method by which a mark is used on the trailing edge portion of the recording medium, or a method by which the residual amount is calculated from an initial amount and a used amount of the recording medium. However, there is a problem that the mid-flow using condition such as a residual amount of the recording medium is unknown, when, on the mid-flow of use of the recording medium, it is exchanged with the roll-like recording medium having another characteristic, and the roll-like recording medium is held in the image recording apparatus for the re-use.
Further, in the image recording apparatus, it is controlled in such a manner that the recording image becomes the high quality according to the characteristic of the recording medium, however, when the kind of the recording medium does not conform to the image recording apparatus, the high quality recording of the recording image can not be conducted.
Further, in the inkjet image recording apparatus, there is also an apparatus by which, in order to make the recording image high quality and the color gradation of the recording image optimum, the test pattern is recorded on the recording medium, and the recorded color gradation is measured, and color correction by calculating the color gradation correction curve is conducted. However, when the recording medium is exchanged with the image recording medium having another characteristic on the mid-flow of use and the image recording medium which is on the mid-flow of use is held in the image recording apparatus again for the re-use, it is necessary that the color correction is conducted every when the image recording medium is exchanged. From this reason, there is a waste in the recording medium or in time.
As described above, in the image recording apparatus, in the case where the image recording medium whose kind or characteristic is different is exchanged and used if necessary, when it is exchanged with the image recording medium whose kind or characteristic is different on the mid-flow of use, the information such as residual amount or characteristic relating to the use of the image recording medium which is used heretofore, that is, the information accumulated in the image recording apparatus is lost when it is disengaged from the image recording apparatus. Thereby, when the recording medium is held again in the image recording apparatus for re-use, because, in the image recording apparatus, the information of the image recording medium before the exchange becomes unknown, a waste of the recording medium due to the shortage such as the residual amount, or a waste of the time such as for the re-attempt of the color correction is generated.
Accordingly, the first object of the present invention is, in an inkjet recording apparatus by which the information showing the ink absorption amount, ink absorption speed, ink drying time, and ink dot diameter, which are the ink absorption characteristic, is previously recorded in the recording medium, and the recording is conducted in the recording medium, when the information is read and on the basis of the information, the recording is adequately conducted, to provide an inkjet recording medium and an inkjet recording apparatus by which it is realized that it corresponds also to recent various kinds of recording media, and produces the high quality image print.
The second object of the present invention is, in the inkjet recording apparatus by which the information showing the heating and/or pressing condition corresponding to its characteristic is previously recorded in the recording medium containing the thermoplastic resin particle on the surface layer and the recording is conducted in the recording medium, when the information showing the heating and/or pressing condition is read, and the heating and/or pressing processing is conducted under the heating and/or pressing condition, to provide the inkjet recording medium and the inkjet recording apparatus by which it is realized that it corresponds also to a plurality of kinds of recording media and produces the high quality image print.
The third object of the present invention is to provide an image recording medium by which the information relating to the image recording medium can be accurately detected, and the information relating to the use of the recording medium can be written and renewed, and to provide the image recording apparatus provided with an access means by which the information relating to the recording medium of the image recording medium can be read and written. Further, it is to provide the image recording apparatus provided with also the distinguish means for adaptation-judging the recording medium to the image recording apparatus.
The further object of the present invention is to provide the image recording medium by which the information relating to the image recording medium can be exactly detected, and the information relating to the use of the recording medium or the color correction information can be written and renewed, and to provide the image recording apparatus provided with an access means by which the information relating to the recording medium of the image recording medium can be read and written, and provided with the function by which the color correction can be conducted.